A California activist group is paying high school students $1,400 each to become racial and social justice activists, according to contracts between the group and the Long Beach Unified School District.
The most recent contract between the group and the district runs until June 2024.
According to the group’s website, the purpose of the training programs for high schoolers is to “[provide] leadership development opportunities throughout the school year and summer to ensure our youth leaders gain the political education and valuable organizing skills they need to lead social justice movements.”
The website also states it has “trained hundreds of youth of color in Long Beach to be community leaders and organizers,” and says it has advocated for implementing “restorative justice practices” across the district’s 84 schools.
In addition to giving a one-time stipend of $1,400 to 78 students who participated in the group’s programs—about $100,000 in total—the group also distributed $20,200 to 13 parents who participated in the program from 2019 to 2024, the outlet reported.
While it’s unclear which students are eligible for the program or the stipends, the group’s website states its “leadership development” programs operate “with a focus on low-income youth, youth of color, LGBTQ youth, foster youth, and immigrant youth.”
The website also states that the purpose of the student programs are to train students to “break the cycle of racial bias in our schools” by “transforming policies, practices, and perceptions.”
A spokesperson for the district told The Free Press that the district considers the programs and the stipends as “internships” to ensure “equitable participation in [Californians for Justice] programs, embracing diverse perspectives in education.”
The Long Beach Unified School District in Southern California currently enrolls 65,500 students.
